Lavish Rebellion [DOT COM]

We made it to Luna Luna!!!

From its (finally) American debut in Los Angeles back in 2023, I was hopeful Luna Luna would come to the east coast and it did, starting in late 2024. There was no way I was going to miss, seeing up-close, amusement park rides painted, drawn and illustrated by the likes of Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kenny Scharf, and artwork by Salvador Dali, Roy Lichtenstein, as well as their peers (that I’m now a little more familiar with and I’m going to list below. They deserve recognition too! Including Luna Luna’s founder André Heller).

• David Hockney
• Sonia Delaunay
• Rebecca Horn 
• André Heller
• Arik Brauer
• Monika Gil’Sing
• Roland Topor
• Jean Tinguely 

Luna Luna opened in the summer of 1987 in Hamburg, Germany, and from what I’ve gained, to much acclaim and success. Heller was also incredibly fortunate to have collaborated with some of the artists when he did for his ambitious project. Especially the artists that were particularly renowned or famous, as three come to mind that would pass away by spring of 1990.

Basquiat in 1988. Dali in 1989. Haring in 1990.

Dali was at least 89 years old. Haring was only 31. While Basquiat was 27.

We utterly marveled at the rides and their artwork. Incredible I tell you!!

Luna Luna also did an amazing job of coordinating music and light shows when the carnival rides were operated (nary of riders). They even had people in costumes that would walk around and playfully entertain guests throughout the exhibition. It was all really wonderful and every guest seemed super impressed, elated and happy to be there.

It was amazing (even before attending the exhibition of selected rides that the artworks were in shipping containers for over 30+ years in Texas. Unused, untouched, and nearly forgotten. Even the merch was locked up!

As you might’ve learned from the above videos, Luna Luna was meant to make its American debut decades ago, but negotiations went awry.

Luna Luna has an amazing history and has come to mean a lot to a multi-generational audience! It was such a treat and a reminder as to why art preservation is so, so important.

Thank you all that made this happen!! We love when rich people and people with connections do cool shit!!